Brussels, 09/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 9 November, the European Commission approved its voluminous "enlargement" package, containing no fewer than 13 documents and/or important decisions for the continued process of the enlargement of the EU (see below): - a progress report 2005 on Turkey, which is somewhat critical of certain shortcomings in the political and legal fields (including respect for human rights), but which also contains positive aspects, such as progress made in adopting the Community acquis. The Commission also considers that Turkey is a "viable market economy"; - a progress report 2005 on Croatia, which stresses in particular the need to continue and step up cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and to reform its legal system; - a favourable opinion of the Commission on granting a "candidate country" status to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM); - revised "Accession Partnerships" for Turkey and Croatia, updating the short and medium-term priorities which the two candidate countries must respect over the next few years in terms of adapting to European legislation; - progress reports 2005 for Albania, Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo (on which, for the first time, the Commission drew up a separate report) and on Bosnia-Herzegovina; - revised versions of the "European partnerships" concluded by the EU in 2004 with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro (and Kosovo) and with FYROM. These European partnerships lay down the short and medium-term priorities for these countries. On 25 October, the Commission presented its regular reports for 2005 on Bulgaria and Romania.
To provide a framework for all of these reports, on Wednesday the Commission also presented a new "strategic document", in which it explains how it sees the continued process of the EU's enlargement. As we indicated (EUROPE 9064), this strategy can be summed up in three key words, which were repeated on Wednesday by Commissioner Olli Rehn, speaking to the press: "consolidation, conditionality, communication". The enlargement policy is "the most powerful political instrument" the EU has at its disposal to stabilise and transform the Balkan States into stable and prosperous democracies, Mr Rehn stressed. This is a "soft power" of the European Union, which, as was the case in the new Member States from Central and Eastern Europe, may also bring about "enormous" structural, economic and political change in southern Europe. In the view of the Commission, there can, therefore, be no question of changing policy towards these countries which, in recent years, have all taken on an unequivocal European perspective of a vocation to accede to the EU once they respect the accession criteria. "Consolidating" the enlargement agenda of the EU means that "we must be very cautious before taking any new commitments", to avoid "overloading" the EU and its absorption capacity, said Mr Rehn, "but we must respect the commitments we have already taken". "We are, therefore, not going to give up our responsibility towards the Balkan States. But the pace of the process of European integration of these countries must take account of the EU's absorption capacity". These countries must also fulfil very strict conditions (conditionality), and the reasons for and advantages of the successive waves of enlargement of the EU must be better explained to the European citizens (communication), Mr Rehn explained, who said that he was "perfectly well aware" of the fears raised in many citizens by the EU's enlargement agenda (however, the Commissioner refuses to accept that the fears of the French and Dutch with regard to enlargement had any determining role to play in their rejection of the European Constitution). "We must improve our communication of the objectives and challenges of enlargement", he insisted. The absorption capacity of the EU- in terms of budget, the institutions or common policies- is an element which must be closely monitored, "and since accession negotiations opened with Turkey, the EU's absorption capacity has occupied a greater and more visible space than before", and it is set to become even greater with possible forthcoming waves of enlargement, Mr Rehn emphasised. The Commission will continue to check the EU's absorption capacity "on a regular basis", he said.
Mixed progress by Turkey - Turkey's top priority must be eliminating torture, increasing civil liberties and protecting minorities
Turkey has made significant progress in respecting the political criteria for accession but reform slowed down in 2005, explained Rehn to reporters. There has been a fall in the number of violations of human rights but they still take place, explains the Commission in its report, hence the urgent need for the Turkish government to take action. On democracy and the rule of law, important structural reforms have been introduced, to the legal system for example. The six laws the EU sees as vital for opening accession negotiations were adopted on time (before 3 October 2005), but their actual implementation in practice has been uneven. Reforms in relations between civil society and the army are continuing, but the armed forces still pull too much weight, notes the Commission. On respect for human rights and protection of minorities, a legislative framework exists to combat torture, but cases of torture are still being reported and work must be stepped up to ensure torturers do not go unpunished, comments the Commission report. Despite progress in terms of legislation, there are still court cases under the new legal system against opponents expressing their views in a peaceful manner. The Commission writes that if this trend continues, the Turkish penal code will have to be changed. Olli Rehn mentioned to reporters the case of Orhan Pamuk, an author taken to court for openly mentioning the assassination of Armenians and Kurds. Problems faced by non-Muslim religious minorities are continuing and must be urgently solved through the adoption of legislation meeting European standards, says the Commission. Women's rights are better protected than in the past, but violence against women is of great concern, adds the report, noting that despite greater tolerance of non-Turkish culture and languages, expressing other cultures is still a difficult matter in Turkey.
On the economic criteria for accession, Turkey can be described as having a viable market economy, as long as it continues the pace of its recent stabilisation and other reforms, notes the report. Turkey is expected to be able to cope with the pressure of competition and market forces within the European Union in the medium term as long as it strenuously pursues its stabilisation policy and passes decisive new measures to introduce structural reforms, explains the Commission. Considerable progress is said to have been made in controlling public fiancé, but the Commission represses concern at the sharp rise in the current account deficit.
On Turkey's progress towards adopting and implementing EU legislation, the 'Community acquis', the European Commission welcomes progress in aligning Turkey's internal market legislation but points out that much more work is needed in various other areas. Legislation on the financial services sector is weak, and EU laws have not yet been fully adopted, but progress has been made in introducing a more effective and transparent legal framework. There has been little alignment of Turkish legislation, often none at all, in various industry policies. On farming, there has not been sufficient alignment of Turkish legislation with EU rules. The Commission says Turkey must also close gaps in its regional development policies and step up efforts in the environmental field. Problems remain with the common foreign and security policy, explains the Commission in the report.
The Commission explains that it will continue to provide what it describes as 'substantial' financial aid to Turkey to back its efforts to move towards accession. EUR 300 mil has been earmarked for 2005, and double that (EUR 600 mil) for 2006.
All Turkey's main failings on human rights and the rule of law are included in the revised Accession Partnership for Turkey adopted on Wednesday. Olli Rehn told reporters that the five main short-term priorities (to be met over the next two years) are a policy of zero tolerance for torture and halting impunity for torturers; increasing freedom of speech, particularly for voicing peaceful opposition and for reporters; passing appropriate legislation to protect the interests of non-Muslims; passing suitable legislation to improve the respect of women's rights; and ensuring trade union rights are respected, in line with legislation in force in the EU. Respect of human rights and the rule of law is non-negotiable, said Rehn, adding that human rights and the rule of law had to apply everywhere in Turkey every day.
Broadly positive appraisal of Croatia
Croatia meets the political criteria but full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), noted by the EU on 3 October 2005 before the opening of accession negotiations, must continue and the last person wanted for questioning at the ICTY must be found, arrested and sent to The Hague, says the Commission in its report. Progress has been made in the judicial field, with the adoption of a judicial reform strategy, but Croatia must to more to reduce its huge legislative backlog and ensure legal decisions are properly put into practice. Corruption is described as a 'serious issue' and efforts must be stepped up to eradicate it. The situation of minorities tends to be improving but there has been extremely slow implementation of the constitutional law on ethnic minorities, explains the Commission. Serbs and Roma are still being discriminated against in Croatia and improving their situation and creating a more favourable climate towards Serbs and the Roma in the country is described by the Commission as an urgent priority. Various positive developments have been noted in policies for grating housing to former legal tenants. On economic criteria, Croatia can been described as a viable market economy, and its macro-economic policies have tended to give satisfactory results. Development of the private sector and foreign direct investment has been hampered by red tape and shortcomings in public administration and legal bodies. On transposing and implementing EU law, progress has been made, but Croatia must boost its administrative and judicial structures, needed to effectively implement EU legislation. More work is also needed on the free circulation of capital, company law, the information society, fisheries, transport, energy, consumer protection, healthcare, customs union and financial control. Considerable efforts are still required on competition policy, farming, food safety, taxation, social policy, employment, regional policy, justice, freedom, security, the free circulation of goods, the free circulation of workers and services, and public tendering - and the Commission says massive work is needed in terms of the environment.
The 'Revised Accession Partnership for Croatia' lists the following short-term priorities (to be achieved over the next two years): implementing the action plan and strategy adopted by the Croatian government on reform of the judicial sector; adopting and starting to implement Croatia's strategy for tackling and preventing corruption; speeding up implementation of the new Constitutional Law on National Minorities; concluding the refugee return process, including the rebuilding and repossessing of former property by those holding tenancy rights. Croatia must step up regional cooperation in order to facilitate and speed up the return of refugees and help them get integrated into Croatian life again; continuing to fully cooperate with the ICTY; finding final solutions to pending bilateral issues like Croatia's border dispute with Slovenia, Serbia Montenegro and Bosnia Herzegovina; and ensuring proper implementation of all pledges made under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union. Croatia must put more effort into concluding the current negotiations on other areas of the economy covered by the SAA, like sugar, farm products and fish.
Commission says FYROM is worthy of candidate status - Rehn says squabbles with Greece about who owns the name 'Macedonia' are a matter for the two countries concerned
On Wednesday, the European Commission decided to recommend that the Council award Macedonia (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM) the status of candidate country. A formal decision to this effect could be made by the European Council in December this year, but the Commission did not suggest any possible dates for opening accession negotiations, simply stating that talks would only begin once the country meets a sufficient number of accession criteria. Speaking to reporters, Olli Rehn said the Commission was not planning to suggest any dates until it has published its upcoming progress report on FYROM in the autumn of next year. Commissioner Rehn is due to visit Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, on Wednesday. He told reporters that only a few years ago, FYROM was a severe security risk, but had turned into a stable democracy and a functioning multi-ethnic state, which is remarkable. The country has also made huge efforts in terms of moving towards joining the EU and the Commissioner hailed this progress, saying he would be telling the Council the country merited candidate status. FYROM is a real success story because it's on track to respect the political accession criteria. Its democracy works, its institutions are stable and this tends to ensure the rule of law and respect of fundamental; rights, explains the Commission report. Implementation of the Ohrid framework agreement of August 2001 made it possible to start a process of creating an integrated multi-ethnic society and ensure the country's stability, establishing a favourable environment for joining the EU, adds the Commission report. Rehn said FYROM would have to make more effort to reform its judicial and police system, fight crime more effectively, and improve the electoral process.
The dispute between FYROM and Greece over which country the name 'Macedonia' belongs to is a bilateral issue between the two countries and is therefore not mentioned in the Commission's report, said Rehn. He hoped the issue could be resolved asap through constructive dialogue under the aegis of the United Nations.
Europe will return tomorrow to the 2005 progress reports on Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and Kosovo.